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Drop Washington’s Counterproductive Oil and Natural Gas Export Ban

Page added on February 4, 2014 For years people have been told to expect a dismal energy future. But because of rapid free market innovation, Americans now can look forward to a future of energy abundance. The U.S. could even become a leading exporter—if Washington gets out of the way. Successive presidents and Congresses imposed controls, approved subsidies, created bureaucracies, and issued proclamations. The most common commitment was to achieve “energy independence.” But President Ronald Reagan set the stage for today’s energy advances by unilaterally eliminating oil price controls and pushing Congress to drop natural gas price and use restrictions. His successors, however, have regressed back to expensive social engineering. George W. Bush declared war on the common light bulb. Barack Obama poured billions into the coffers of well-connected alternative energy firms, several of which, such as Solyndra, have gone bankrupt. And everyone continued to support the authoritarian Gulf […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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NYMEX No Future For Crude Oil Futures

According to Leah McGrath Goodman’s well-researched book “The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World’s Oil Market”, the start of Nymex oil trading was in major part due to traders who stumbled upon oil futures after screwing up Maine potato futures. Their trading “industry” or gambling party had been built on predicting the Maine potato harvest, and—much more importantly—trying to manipulate potato prices, to the point that regulators were finally forced to act. They shut down the potato futures market in 1976, after repeated defaults on physical deliveries of more than 25 000 tons of potatoes. As Goodman explains, the traders were forced to cast around for something else to trade. Then-Chairman of the Nymex, Michael Marks tried to boost futures trading in boneless beef and plywood, but that didn’t work. In 1978 however, Marks hit on the right thing and introduced heating oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil prices kept in check by global economy fears

The price of oil was little changed Tuesday, with the outlook for energy demand kept in check by weak manufacturing in China and the U.S. Benchmark U.S. crude for March delivery was up 19 cents to $96.62 a barrel at 0830 GMT in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.06 to close at $96.43 on Monday. Oil prices took a hit this week after surveys of purchasing managers in the world’s two biggest economies indicated weakness in manufacturing last month. A trade group in the U.S. reported that manufacturing barely expanded in January as cold weather cut shipments and forced some factories to shut down. On the weekend, a Chinese manufacturing index by a government-affiliated agency reported that activity declined to just above the level that indicates contraction. Feeble manufacturing could indicate broader economic weakness that results in reduced demand for energy. Brent crude, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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WTI Oil Trades Near One-Week Low as Crude Stockpiles Seen Rising

West Texas Intermediate traded near the lowest price in a week amid speculation crude inventories increased in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures were little changed in New York after declining the most in almost a month yesterday as a U.S. manufacturing gauge dropped more than forecast. Crude stockpiles probably gained by 2.25 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts before a report from the Energy Information Administration tomorrow. “The data out of the U.S. is showing things aren’t as good as expected when it comes to the economy,” David Lennox , a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone today. “That’s going to have an impact on the oil price because the U.S. is a big consumer.” WTI for March delivery was at $96.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange , up 21 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Diesel Slips as Slower Chinese Growth Threatens Global Demand

Diesel futures in New York slipped as slowing Chinese growth threatens global distillate demand. The fuel fell as much as 1 percent after China ’s official Purchasing Managers ’ Index (EC11CHPM) decreased to a six-month low in January as output and orders slowed. U.K. manufacturing also expanded at a lesser pace last month. “Slower economic growth outside the U.S. will result in slower increases in demand for diesel,” said Andy Lipow , president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston. Ultra low sulfur diesel for March delivery fell 2.58 cents to $2.9713 a gallon at 10:40 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange . Trading volume was 19 percent above the 100-day average. The Chinese Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 50.5, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Feb. 1 in Beijing. In the U.K., the Purchasing Managers’ Index declined to 56.7 last […]

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Natural Gas Eases Ahead of Warmer Weather

-Natural gas skipped a thin line between gains and losses Monday as market watchers weighed moderating weather forecasts against concerns that supplies could be exceptionally low at winter’s end. Natural gas for March delivery settled down 3.8 cents, or 0.8%, to $4.905 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unusually cold temperatures across the U.S. have boosted natural gas to record highs in recent weeks amid robust demand for gas-fueled heating in homes and offices. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Domestic demand for natural gas hit an all-time high in January, according to energy-analytics firm Bentek Energy, owned by McGraw Hill Financial Inc. (MHFI). […]

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BP Fourth-Quarter Profit Drops as Disposals Hurt Oil Output

BP Plc (BP/) , Europe ’s second-largest oil company, said fourth-quarter profit fell from a year earlier as output declined and refining margins weakened. Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes dropped to $2.8 billion from $3.9 billion a year earlier, the London-based company said in a statement. That matched the average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. BP follows Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Exxon Mobil Corp., the two biggest oil companies by market value, in reporting lower earnings as the cost of drilling rises, refining profits slump and oil prices stagnate. Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley has sold less profitable fields in the wake of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill and focused on profit margins rather than volume targets. “Capital discipline is central to BP’s strategy,” Dudley said in a statement. That’s “making the right investment choices, sticking to our capital limits, and […]

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Dozens killed in series of deadly Baghdad bombings

A new series of car bombings in and around Baghdad on Monday killed at least 23 people, officials said, as Iraq’s Shia-led government grapples with a stubborn Sunni extremist-led insurgency in the western Anbar province. Eight people were killed in two separate car bombs on Monday — one of which was detonated by a suicide attacker — in the town of Mahmudiyah, just south of in the Iraqi capital . Five others were killed by vehicles rigged with explosives in the  Baghdad neighborhoods  of Baladiyat and Hurriyah. A further three explosions — one in Sadr City and two in Abu Disheer — on Monday evening killed 10 people and injured 20. In western Baghdad, also on Monday, police found the bodies of three men and one woman who were all killed by bullets to the head, officials said. And in another incident, two soldiers were killed in clashes with […]

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Iran Giving Food Away to Millions for Relief

The Iranian government has started handing out food packages for millions of its citizens both to help those with low income and to try to lower inflation on food, local news media reported on Monday. Across the capital, Tehran, and in the rest of the country, long lines of people waited in government-owned department stores, where the food is being distributed. President Hassan Rouhani has said the handouts are intended to “ease the pressure” on Iranians and demonstrate some of the immediate benefits from the recent interim nuclear agreement with world powers. All government employees and citizens making less than 5 million rials, or $170, a month are eligible to receive the food package, which contains more than 20 pounds of rice from India, two frozen chickens from Turkey, three dozen eggs, more than two quarts of vegetable oil and two packs of processed cheese. Over 15 […]

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Al Qaeda Breaks With Jihadist Group in Syria Involved in Rebel Infighting

; Al Qaeda’s central leadership has officially cut ties with a powerful jihadist group that has flourished in the chaos of the civil war in Syria and that rushed to build an Islamic state on its own terms, antagonizing the wider rebel movement. The animosity between the group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and other rebel groups has fueled the deadliest infighting yet between the foes of President Bashar al-Assad and has sapped their campaign to depose him. Though the isolation of the group could lead to greater unity among other rebel forces, it is unlikely to assuage fears in the United States and elsewhere about the increasing power of extremists in Syria. The break between Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, announced late Sunday on jihadist websites, served both […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple